the hides of dead animals. They also permit the transformation of impure matter by fire or other means.

Water becomes impure for two reasons: one is agreed upon, while the other is disputed. The agreed-upon reason is a change caused by impurity. Whenever such a change is what makes water impure, it becomes pure once that change disappears, just as a garment smeared with blood becomes pure again when washed.

The second reason is small quantity. When an impurity falls into a small quantity of water, scholars hold two views as to whether it becomes impure. According to al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad in one report from him, water amounting to less than two qullahs becomes impure. In the well-known report from Ahmad, however, urine and liquid excrement are exceptions: any body of water that can be drained is deemed impure if either falls into it.

According to Abū Hanīfah, any water reached by the motion becomes impure. The scholars of Medina, and Ahmad in a third report, hold that it does not become impure even if it amounts to less than two qullahs. Some Shāfiʿī scholars preferred this first view, corresponding to one of the transmitted reports. Some of al-Shāfiʿī’s followers defended this report, just as many of Ahmad’s followers defended the first. However, a group of Mālik’s followers said that a small quantity of water becomes impure through a small quantity of impurity, without setting the threshold at two qullahs. Most scholars of Medina stated their position without qualification: they do not deem anything impure unless it undergoes a change.

Those who treat water and other liquids alike—as in one of the two reports from Ahmad—and adopt this view, which is also reported from Ahmad, apply the same ruling to other liquids, as al-Zuhrī and others did. Thus, they do not deem any liquid impure